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Sen. Whitehouse’s Legislation to Receive Procedural Vote on Monday

Friday, April 13, 2012

Washington, DC – With the U.S. Senate poised to vote this Monday on U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse’s (D-RI) legislation to improve tax fairness by implementing the Buffett Rule, a coalition of more than 100 national, state, and local organizations sent a letter to Senators today urging them to support the bill.

“We believe that a basic premise of the promise of America – no matter what your political party – is that everyone should contribute their fair share,” the letter states. “S. 2230 is a first step to creating a fairer tax system, which provides a clear choice: Do you want a nation where millionaires pay lower taxes than middle-class Americans, or an America where everyone contributes their fair share? Two-out-of three Americans support the latter. We urge you to join with them by supporting S. 2230 and by allowing the measure to get an up-or-down vote.”

The letter was signed by the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), the AFL-CIO, the Alliance for Retired Americans, Citizens for Tax Justice, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, the Main Street Alliance, the National Organization for Women, the YWCA USA, and many others.

“I’m honored to stand with these organizations in the fight for tax fairness,” said Whitehouse. “I thank them for lending their support, and I hope my colleagues in the Senate will listen to their message. It’s time to restore tax fairness for middle-class Americans.”

The full text of the letter is below.

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April 13, 2012

Dear Senator:

We write to ask you to support Senator Sheldon Whitehouse’s “Paying a Fair Share Act of 2012,” S. 2230, legislation that would address an array of tax loopholes that allows some millionaires and billionaires to pay a lower effective tax rate than working families.

S. 2230 implements the so-called “Buffett Rule,” proposed by billionaire investor Warren Buffett, who pays a lower effective tax rate than his secretary. The legislation would require that all households with incomes above $1 million a year pay at least a 30 percent minimum federal effective tax rate on income, a critical first step in creating a more equitable tax code.

This should not be controversial legislation. We believe that a basic premise of the promise of America – no matter what your political party – is that everyone should contribute their fair share. The richest Americans have benefitted from enormous increases in wealth in recent decades, while everyone else has struggled to make ends meet. S. 2230 represents a modest but important step for addressing rising inequality.

There is no reason that Washington should subsidize millionaires and billionaires. Continuing the array of tax loopholes that the Buffett Rule seeks to address adds to the deficit and requires middle-class Americans to make up the difference – either through higher taxes or through reductions in funding for Medicare and Medicaid, public education, researching new medical cures, or rebuilding our crumbling infrastructure.

S. 2230 is a first step to creating a fairer tax system, which provides a clear choice: Do you want a nation where millionaires pay lower taxes than middle-class Americans, or an America where everyone contributes their fair share? Two-out-of three Americans support the latter. We urge you to join with them by supporting S. 2230 and by allowing the measure to get an up-or-down vote.